Balls of Steel
Balls of Steel brings a fresh angle to the pinball genre with smooth scrolling tables and interactive animations.
| Balls of Steel |
by Apogee
|
There are five distinctly table themes in all: Fire
Storm, Mutation, Dark Side, Barbarian and Duke Nukem, each with the usual ramps, targets,
bumpers, kick-backs and mini flippers. 'Video modes' which replicate their coin-op cousins
are included along with the often useful Tilt button. Graphics are crisp and the variables
are realistic, down to the occasional sticky flipper that you encounter on real tables.
BOS contains all the usual ramps and targets which send your score skyward when hit in
certain sequences. Multiple ramp/lane shots are rewarded with 'combo' bonuses, encouraging
the player to send the ball into orbit. Verbal prompts indicate new opportunities
that open up as other tasks are completed. There are
the two, three and five-ball multiball features which are activated after hitting certain
target sequences. Once a sizeable score is obtained, a special Powerball feature
activates, which enables you to rack up more millions. The option of single-screen,
scrolling, or auto-switching mode (which changes from a single to scrolling screen when
multiball is activated) is a very useful inclusion. There are four difficulty modes, one of which lets you post scores to the Net (http://www.worldscores.com/) for ego gratification or tournaments. There's hot-seat multiplay for two to four players, but no Internet or LAN play.
My favourite table is the Duke Nukem table, which is complete with plenty of new one-liners from The Man himself. You'll search out coloured keycards, splatter Octabrains, and use a jetpack to navigate a broken ramp.
by Andrew Ritchie
